


The enchanted burn

by Rb_Liz_476283



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Hint to COVID-19, LGBTQ Character, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:54:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29496858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rb_Liz_476283/pseuds/Rb_Liz_476283
Summary: This is a story that I wrote for Christmas of 2020, for my family. This is my first original work and I only have my family has critics, so bear with me. Thank you so much for taking time to read this!
Kudos: 1





	The enchanted burn

When the sickness hit, Gloria wasn’t ready for it. It had been a marvellous day, a pause in the rush of school and the strain of studying for the finals. She had gone to a small café near the city with her mundane friends. Her _magical_ friends were also in the stress of their exams and couldn’t hang out with her. The café was amazing. The walls were decorated with coloured bricks and a fireplace on the far wall, with tables and comfortable couches next to it.

Her parents had tried to organize a family game session, but she hadn’t come. Not after what they did. They obviously didn’t want her presence anyway. So, she had ignored the ache in her chest and had gone out with friends who could sooth the broken bond she previously had with her parents. Of course, she didn’t blame Charlie, they were the best. Their sibling simply never brought it up and never took a side. Which was _perfect_. Losing all of her family bonds would definitely have hurt her magic, well, more than it already did.

And that’s where it went wrong. Because, _of course_ , something went wrong. Why wouldn’t it? She had been sitting on one of the couches in the café, surrounded by friends when her phone had rung. It was Charlie. She had answered, a worried frown already on her face. Charlie _never_ called. Not if they could help it at least. Something major must of happened. As soon as Charlie had finished talking, she had run out of the shop, not answering the worried shouts of her friends. She had hidden in a small alleyway in between two shops and for the first time in weeks, had wrapped home.

And here she was, staring at the deathly pale face of her parents, sweat soaking their foreheads. Their veins were black and pulsing with death energy, something she had hoped _never_ to see in her life. She had heard stories of death magic, how devastating it was. In the last war, most death magic or magic curses had been eliminated but, of course, some remained. The Miasma were smart after all, there’s a reason the war with the Jewels took so long.

“Are they going to be all right?” she asked the officer, never looking away from her parents behind the glass. Luckily, because of their high rank, they could still be in their room and simply ask a specialist to create a magic blocking wall. Or in this case, glass.

He looked at her briefly, his red unnerving eyes, before looking ahead. “We don’t know. This is a curse that hasn’t been seen for centuries. We thought we had gotten rid of it, but apparently not. Your parents found a cursed object in a mine in India, in their mission last week. It _has_ been known for this curse to manifest later on.” He told her with a straight face.

Gloria barely managed to maintain her composure, trying not to cry in the face of her parent’s situation. She was mad at them, but she didn’t want them to _die_. Not even close. She closed her eyes, trying to contain her emotions before turning away from them and sitting on the couch. “What exactly does this illness do?” She asked, already wary of his answer.

He looks at her parents for a small moment before sighting and sitting beside her. “This curse is called the Enchanted Burn. It’s a curse that slowly eats at someone’s magic, putting them in extreme pain before they die slowly. There’s no real cure to this disease, and one hasn’t been found yet.”

“How did you get rid of it last time? There must be a way to save them!” she exclaimed, looking at him desperately. There _had_ to be a way!

He looked at her with pity and regret in his eyes. “Gloria … we didn’t get rid of the sickness. We got rid of the people who had it.” He stood up after a few seconds. “They can survive, if they have enough will power, and enough magic. The infected usually don’t last longer than a week. If they go to a week, they might have a chance.” He walked out of the room leaving her in her frozen state.

Thirty minutes later, Gloria walked out as well, automatically heading to her room. She opened the door and headed to her bed who was nicely made and collapsed on top of it. She stared, and stared at the ceiling, like it would give her the answers. It only took a minute before she was crying away in her pillow, body racking with the force of her sobs. Her mind was filled with self-loathing, anger, pain and sorrow.

She regretted not spending the last of her time with them. Her heart ached for the bond that she had destroyed herself. With the current situation, she now thought that her whole reaction to the school could have been childish. But they had _promised_. That they would never do that to her, not again. And they _did_! Or they planned to. At the time, Gloria hadn’t even thought of talking to them with how mad she had been. But now she regretted that decision.

But it didn’t matter anymore. They would either die in excruciating pain or they would live with scars in their magic forever. Which was … she shuddered just to think about it. And if they died, they’d die thinking their daughter hated them. She had only been scared; she didn’t think this would happen! With those dark thoughts running through her head, she fell asleep.

She zombied through the next week, caught in a never-ending loop of dark thoughts and chores. She did all the things her parents asked her to do, but never did. If they survived maybe they wouldn’t actually disown her. She was the only one who could actually wonder around the house. Charlie was in quarantine since they had been in contact with thier parents since they had been infected. Luckily, it didn’t look like they had caught it, which they were lucky for. Gloria couldn’t bear the thought of losing her entire family.

Sadly, she wasn’t the only one in the house, for a bunch of healers were here to make sure that her parents stayed stable. Officers also came to pay their respects, which made her annoyed, they acted like her parents were already dead. They weren’t! Sometimes she got depressed about it. But she always picked herself back up. If she wanted her parents to forgive her, she shouldn’t just mope around. 

So, in between the chores, she prayed to whichever god or goddess she thought of that maybe could heal her them. She had visited her parents every day, except the first. She had been ashamed. After that day of depression, she visited them every time she could. She talked to them of whatever she thought. Sometimes, she would call Charlie and they would talk to them, and to each other. Like nothing had happened.

A week later, she was in her parent’s room, Charlie beside her. Both of them were looking at the healer who was beside their parents, behind the glass/ward. Their parents really weren’t looking good. Their mother’s brown skin was full littered black veins and her hair had long since fallen off, burned by the virus’s magic. Her beautiful brown eyes were closed, and her face was clenched in pain. Like it had been all week.

Their father wasn’t faring much better, his previously tanned skin was now deathly pale and like their mother’s, was stripped with veins tainted black. His brown hair had also fallen off and his icy blue eyes were open and staring at the ceiling with pain and sorrow. Their father sometimes slept with his eyes open when having a nightmare. Gloria supposed that even in a magical induced coma, he could have nightmares on top of the agonizing battle going on with his magic.

The healer cleared his throat before looking at them with a determined look. “Since the week has passed and your parents are still alive, I will now administer the boost. What this will do, is that I will simply lend a hand to your parent’s magic who are fighting the virus, since it is already weakened, I should be able to help.” He said patiently, explaining what he was about to do. Gloria _was_ grateful that he knew what he was doing, but she really wanted to talk to her parents again.

Finally, the healer stopped talking and started with the risky procedure. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, gathering violet magic into his hands. For a few minutes, he simply concentrated on getting the right amount of magic to defeat the weakened virus. Wind started to blow around him, but since it was a magical wind, no object got affected by it. As pressure started to gather and the wind blew more ferociously, the man slammed his hands on her parent’s chest.

At first nothing happened. Gloria suddenly had that worst fear that her parents were already dead. And suddenly _it_ appeared. The girl had always been entwined with her magic. And right now, she hated that fact. The whole room, including the siblings behind the glass/ward, suddenly became darker. The shadows in the corners of the room grew, and wiggled on the floor, almost like they were reaching for their ankles. As she was distracted by the shadows, she suddenly felt goosebumps rise on her arms and the temperature drop.

“Healer! What is happening…?” Charlie trailed off. Gloria looked back to the healer and felt her heart clench. He was still pouring his magic into both of his parents but right above his hand, interconnected with their skin was a ball of darkness and decay. It was horrible. She wanted to throw up. The ball of magic _radiated_ evil. The death and poison were enveloping the whole room. How could people call that the Enchanted Burn!? That, that … _thing_ was awful!

She saw the healer clench his teeth and tighten his hand on her parent’s chest. His magic spiked, the violet going up and attacking the ball of evil. She stared in amazement as her parents’ magic rose, each white and red. It looked weak and some strands of it would separate and disappear. But it still attacked viciously, like it knew this was the last battle. For a whole fifteen minutes, their magic battled the virus, but it was getting weaker. And it was terrible, neither of the siblings could interfere.

“We have to do something.” Said Charlie, breaking her train of thoughts. She looked at them, their vivid red hair was blowing softly with the wind and their green eyes were glowing with power. They looked like they could barely restrain themselves. Gloria looked at them, focusing magic in her eyes. She wanted to see the links of magic in between them and her parents. Guilt immediately washed over her. She had broken the bonds, she couldn’t help.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, she nodded to Charlie, knowing that they would do what they had to do. She immediately felt magic surge in the links and pour into her parents. The healer looked up for a second, narrowing his eyes at them. The fact that he only turned back to look at her parents showed how _much_ trouble he would have been in if they wouldn’t have helped.

And they fought, for twenty other minutes they were winning, but then, they weren’t. She didn’t know how; it had seemed so sudden. Charlie was lying on the couch, panting and fighting for their parent’s life. They could have won. Only if she could have helped. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t repair back her bonds. The parents had to create it again. She felt her knees give up on her as she stared at the magics, battling to the very end. Her heart broke as hope shattered.

Then, she felt it.

A brush of her parents’ magic, coming from the link of Charlie, reaching towards her. Gloria stared in disbelief. This was risky. Even a _slimmer_ of magic separating could be fatal! But, nevertheless, it reached her, and she could feel her parents magic surrounding her. Like a hug. Her breath hitched and her eyes burned with tears. She could feel them around her, as they whispered in her ears.

_We forgive you._

She smiled. The bond snapped into place. She felt her magic surge. Her eyes blazed with power, and as she gave all of her magic to her parents, she knew one thing. With her family, she could do anything. With family you can counter anything. Because they give you hope. They give you strength.

With family, you can counter one damn virus.

The end

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
